REVIEW--In the last chapter, we learned that the rules of Round One are:

"In Round One of the game, Hermione is asked a question, which she answers by writing on a piece of parchment. We take her quill, and her answer is kept to herself, for the time being. Then, the question is repeated for the boys to answer. They also write their answers on a scrap of parchment. When they are finished answering, their quills will be taken away. The boys show their answers, and then Hermione shows her answer. Five questions will be asked in this round. A correct answer is rewarded with ten points."

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Chapter Three: Round One

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Hermione, never one to be too melodramatic, felt that at that moment, the entire world was out to get her. Why else would she be forced to humiliate herself like this? She glanced down from her chair at Ron, and then at Viktor, wondering why the whole debate couldn't have been settled with a duel. Of course, Ron probably would have been seriously hurt in a duel, considering how much older Viktor was.

Oh, well, she thought glumly. I'm here, embarrassing myself already. I might as well go full-out. At least it's only Gryffindors who are watching.

"Hermione," a voice from below her said, a voice much like Harry's, except, for the past ten minutes now, Harry had been talking quite ridiculously. She knew that he was trying to do a game show announcer-type voice, but it was still absurd.

"Yes?" she responded, and it was barely heard by the crowd.

Harry said, "Summon yourself some parchment and a quill." She did as he said. "Contestants, do the same." They did–although it took Ron two tries.

Ginny took over, saying, "Okay, Hermione, here is the first question. In your fourth year, you had your two front teeth shrunken after being hit with a hex. Why did you worry that your parents would be upset? Write your answer on the parchment."

Hermione scribbled her answer down and said, "Done."

"Okay, drop your quill down to me," Harry urged her, and she did. "Now, Dimwits One and Two, please answer the same question: In Hermione's fourth year, she was hit with a hex. She had her teeth shrunken. Why did she think he parents would be upset about this?"

Both contestants looked slightly vacant for a moment, but then an idea seemed to come to Ron. He wrote his answer down. Viktor, noticing his foe had found an answer, worriedly wrote something on a piece of parchment.

"Done?" Ginny asked. They nodded and tossed their quills to the hosts. "Great. Now, Hermione, please reveal your answer."

Hermione nervously turned her piece of parchment to the audience. It read, in neat, cursive writing, "Magic and teeth don't mix." She then read her answer aloud, realizing the judges could not see it.

"Ron, would you please show your answer."

With a very large and smug grin upon his face, he turned his parchment around. On it, in much less neat handwriting, were the words, "Her parents feel magic shouldn't be used on teeth." The audience burst out in applause, and George and Fred were heard chanting, "Dimwit Number One! Dimwit Number One!"

"Good job, Ron," Harry congratulated, as he pointed his wand at the sign floating above Ron's head. It now said, "RON–10 points."

Once the audience quieted, Ginny said, "Viktor, please show us your answer."

Viktor, looking sullen, showed his piece of parchment. His answer was, "Her parents don't like magic."

The audience jeered, although a small group of girls called, "We love you!" to Viktor.

"Oh, tough break, Viktor," consoled Ginny. "Now, on to the next question." She sent a quill up to Hermione.

Harry said, "Hermione's favorite color is...what?" Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment and then wrote her answer down. She tossed the quill back to Ginny. "Contestants, your quills." Harry and Ginny tossed them to the boys. "Again, the question is: Hermione's favorite color is...what is it?"

Viktor wrote his answer down first this time and quickly gave the quill back. Ron, however, was looking panicked, wondering why, in his many years of knowing Hermione, he had never bothered to find out her favorite color. He wrote an answer down quickly, although it was obvious to everyone he was unsure about it, if the way he was muttering, "Bloody hell," was any indication. He returned his quill.

"Show us and read us your answer, Hermione," Ginny called, looking up slightly.

Hermione said, with a clear voice, as she turned the parchment around, "Red."

A look of annoyance flickered over Ron's face and triumph over Viktor's. And indeed, when Ron showed his answer, it contained the incorrect response of "Pink," while Viktor's said, "It is red." Harry directed his wand at Viktor's sign, so that it read, "KRUM–10 points."

"And the score is all tied up!" exclaimed Ginny, giving Hermione her quill. "Next question."

Harry said, "At the beginning of third year, of all the classes available to her, how many was she taking?" Hermione wrote the answer to this faster than she wrote any of the other answers, and she dropped her quill down. After distributing quills to the contestants, Harry repeated, "At the beginning of her third year, how many classes was Hermione taking?" The contestants wrote their answers down, and then handed their quills back.

Ginny, looking drained, said, "Hermione, your answer, please."

With a nervous glance out at the audience, Hermione turned the parchment over. Upon it was the single word "ALL." Remembering she was also supposed to read her answer, she said, "All. All the classes available to me."

"Ron, would you please reveal your answer to us."

Ron turned over his parchment. The audience cheered. It read, "All of them. (She's loony.)"

"Viktor, its your turn," Ginny announced.

Although he had looked a little nervous while scrawling his answer on the parchment, he now looked calm. When he turned it around, it said, "All classes." The audience applauded loudly, and it was clear they were getting into the game.

Both contestants were awarded ten points.

"It is still a tie game," said Harry, "with two questions left in the round."

"Here's your quill, Hermione," Ginny said, as she gave the girl back her writing utensil. "And your question, a sort of continuation of the previous one: In the middle of the third year, you, Hermione, quit what class, and why?"

Grinning an almost wicked grin, Hermione penned her answer, which seemed longer than the others. Finally, upon finishing, she dropped her quill down, which Harry caught, and muttered, "This will be fun."

Harry told the contestants, while giving them quills, that "it was their turn. The question is: In the middle of third year, Hermione quit what class? Why did she quit it?"

Both Ron and Viktor seemed to know the answer to this one, as they were both scribbling furiously on the parchment. Finally, at almost the exact same time, they looked up and tossed their quills to the hosts.

"Great," said Ginny, smiling winningly. "Hermione, what is your answer?"

Hermione held her parchment out proudly, and said, in a loud voice, "I quit divination because Professor Trelawney is an F-R-A-U-D fraud!" Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil booed and hissed loudly, since both were loyal fans of the Divination professor.

"Well, I don't know how happy Professor Trelawney would be to hear that," said Harry laughing, "but we'll soon find out how our contestants feel about Hermione's answer. Ron?"

Ron showed his answer, which said, "She quit divination. Trelawney didn't have 'the sight.'"

"Well done, Ron," said Ginny, as she changed his score from 20 to 30. "Viktor, please share your answer with us."

The Bulgarian's answer said, "Divination. She didn't like the teacher."

"That's wrong!" shouted Ron.

"It is the same thing," protested Viktor. "She does not like the teacher because she is phony."

"That's not what your answer says!" was Ron's rebuttal.

Harry yelled, "Be quiet!" and then said, "We'll ask our judge. Neville?"

Neville's voice burst forth from the front of the crowd.His words, however, were lost in the noise. He seemed to be repeating himself sveral times. Finally, a, "It's not the same," was heard from him, and ten points were added only to Ron's side.

"Vhy, you little–" Viktor yelled at Neville, before Hermione interrupted with, "Viktor! Don't."

"Okay," said Ginny. "Well, that certainly was exciting. However, it is now time for the final question." Hermione received her quill, as Ginny said, "Hermione's least favorite class–aside, I guess, from divination–is...?" Hermione looked quite stumped for an instant, and then wrote down her answer. She handed back her quill.

Harry said, "Boys, the question is: Hermione's least favorite class is...what?" He gave them their quills.

The boys answered as they had before, with a second or two of thinking, and a few more seconds of writing. Both seemed this time to be pretty sure of themselves as they handed back their quills.

Ginny said, "Hermione, what is your least favorite class?"

"Potions," Hermione replied, as she turned over the parchment which, indeed, had the word, "Potions," scrawled across.

"Well, who can blame you?" laughed Harry. "Contestants, did you say potions? Ron?"

Ron proudly showed his answer which was a little longer than Hermione's–"Potions, with the dreaded Slytherins and Snape-the-terrible." Almost all of the Gryffindors laughed, as ten points were added to Ron's score.

"Now, Viktor, did you say Potions?"

Viktor replied, "Yes, I did," as he showed his parchment which clearly stated, "Potions."

"Well, Ginny," said Harry. "This was a very exciting round."

"Yes, it was, Harry," agreed the red-headed girl. "And, at the end of the first round, Ron Weasley leads, 40 to 30."

"However," countered The Boy Who Lived, "third round is double points, and anyone can take the lead."

"Before that, however, we have interviews."

Harry tried to respond to this, but even his extra-loud voice couldn't drown out Fred and George Weasley's chant of, "The Number One Dimwit is Dimwit Number One! The Number One Dimwit is Dimwit Number One!"

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A/N: So, how did you like this chapter? Please review. Next time, its round two: interviews.